Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald TD has called out the status-quo establishment politics of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and their attempts to “freeze out” Sinn Féin from government.

Speaking this afternoon, Teachta McDonald said:

“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are the political establishment. 

“They want to maintain the status-quo and they don’t want Sinn Féin in government because they know we will do things differently. 

“We will put people first; we will stand up for families, for workers and for communities.

“I reject the idea that Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin can dictate that we or our voters are not good enough for government.

“We will not be excluded.

“We have just appointed Ministers to the Executive in Belfast, and this has been welcomed by the same parties that want to exclude Sinn Féin from government in Dublin

“The hypocrisy of Leo Varadkar and his partner Micheál Martin is stunning. 

“In government, Sinn Féin would deliver the biggest public housing building programme in the history of the State, bring about real change in the health service, transform the childcare system and give families and workers a break. 

“We are the only party with a chance to make a real impact against the establishment politics of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the next election, and we will demonstrate that throughout the upcoming election campaign.”